I am not updating this blog any longer - but thank you for stopping by and reading my earlier posts.

All the best,
Ann-Catrine

Just a quick reminder that today - Friday April 15 - is World Art Day with this graffiti piece I found in Reykjavik last year. Eat cake, toast in champagne, and make sure to celebrate the World of Art on this day by taking an extra look at some of the art works around you!!!

I write this post after learning that the great architect Zaha Hadid died today only 65 years old. I have only visited two of her buildings, MAXXI in Rome and the Riverside Museum in Glasgow. The images are from the last one, as it was both the first one I had the chance to experience and also the one that made the strongest impression. Both as architecture and as museum.

Glasgow has an industrial history, with shipbuilding as one of the main industries by the river Clyde alongside shipping companies. After many decades of decline leaving the area desolated it is now completely reconstructed, or gentrified if you like, making Clyde more accessible for the citizens. A part of this process was getting a beloved museum new facilities. The Glasgow Museum of Transport (opened in 1964) is one of the most visited museums in the UK and it opened its third building, designed as a wave by Hadid, in June 2011. 

It is a fantastic building! Not just as an architectural fantasy, but as a house for the collection. All items are exposed with both wit and knowledge and create active visitors. I thought only the building would interest me, but it (together with the work of the museum curators) made the history of bikes, cars and trams exciting.

Thank you Zaha Hadid for your work. Rest in peace.

My mother passed away recently and my family had to do all the things you have to do when a loved one dies - like choosing a symbol for the public announcement of my mothers death. There was 61 pages of images to choose from! As an art historian I just had to go through the whole material, especially since I already have an unnatural fascination of images chosen for these kinds of announcements. It can be quite curious and mysterious at times, but it is also revealing of our society's understanding of death and grief. 

Traditionally only the latin cross were used like in this example taken from http://www.rsob.se/dodsannonser_aspliden_.html  But the Church and Christianity is not as hegemonic in Swedish rituals as before, and I guess people wants to remember family members and friends in a more personal way. You can use symbols reflecting interest, hobbies, professions and relations. Flowers, especially roses, are popular (my mother eventually got a red rose), then there are hearts, doves, tools, vehicles, pets, instruments, crests from your favourite teams, and symbols from other religions. At first I thought that masons were especially proud of their profession until I realised that the trowel was a sign of the Freemasons. Another favourite tool seems to be the pipe wrench - can someone explain that?

Finally there are the combinations, like the cross and cat at the top. Often they are logical in a symbolic reading like a dove and a cross, or the crown of thorns together with the cross. But cat and cross? Perhaps the deceased  was a devout cat lover and Christian, or maybe the family could not agree due to a generation gap? I am not sure what symbol I would like to go with my funeral announcement, maybe a heart of some kind.  How would you like to be remembered?

I promised a modern approach to my humble contributions to Black History Month, and here it is:

In April 2012 the above photo caused an uproar in Sweden. The event took place at Moderna Museet in Stockholm when invited artists made cakes to celebrate both World Art Day and the 75th anniversary of Konstnärernas Riksorganisation (KRO). It shows how then Swedish Minister of Culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, feeds the artist Makode Linde a piece of his Painful Cake.

Linde designed his cake as an image of a black woman and the cream and other stuffing inside the cake was coloured red. It looks like a black version of the pre-historic Willendorf woman, but he also used a very stereotype image of black people from early 20th century popular culture. This is a theme in a large portion of his work that he calls "Afromantics" (see a few examples below).  Finally he also appeared inside the head of the woman, screaming every time someone cut a piece from the cake. The cake was to be understood as a critical commentary to female circumcision still practised in various parts of the world, including some African countries.

The art of Makode Linde have been called racist because of his use of "black face" and "golliwog" aesthetics, while he claims he wants to mirror contemporary racist discourses by using its most stereotype visual representation. Linde is himself black, and this in itself is of course no guarantee for non-racist activism, but I think the reactions his art is causing is an indication that what he is trying to do is working. If you are met with racism on a daily basis I do understand why you might get offended by Linde's work, but I rather understand his intentions as a critique directed towards a white society blind to the on-going discrimination. Still diminishing words and visual representations of people of colour are used in media, commercials and everyday language - but sometimes we are just too ignorant to notice.

Back to the photo of the performance of Painful Cake. It is horrible in so many ways! Look at the situation. All white people smiling, and taking photos, while the Minister of Culture feeds Linde cake. In this photo the stereotype black woman really becomes a sign of racism, as all its intentions is reduced to fun and games in the art world. But still this doesn't make Makode Linde a racist artist, rather its the perspective of the representation of the event that is questionable.

Since February is "Black History Month" in some parts of the world, why not take a quick look at one example of "black history" in Swedish art. 

Sweden had some colonies in the eighteenth century for shorter periods in an attempt to compete economically with greater nations, but this was not particularly successful and therefor largely forgotten about... But there are other traces of European colonialism in Swedish art history besides the love of everything Oriental and exotic as was fashionable at the time. Above you find a portrait of a man called Gustav Badin made by Gustav Lundberg in 1775. Badin, or Couchi as was his first/real name, was very young when he came to Sweden as a gift to the queen Lovisa Ulrika in the mid-eighteenth century. That means he was a slave, but with time his position in the royal court expanded. As an adult while he serving first under the queen and later princess Sofia Albertina, he was also acting in various theatrical events and privately he was devoted book collector. He was not the only black man of African origin in Sweden at the time, but due to his connections with the royal family he is the most famous.

Lundberg's portrait is a curious mix. He depicts Badin both as a nobleman, dressed in fine fabrics and decorated with an Order, and as some sort of wild man with feathers and exotic bling. There is a hint of the tricolour in Badin's costume, perhaps a reference to that he was both reading and writing in French. He is playing chess, but as he is portrayed smiling and looking like trouble, as his given French name Badin is suggesting, perhaps we should think he is playing with the chess pieces? Even if he gained some respect in higher society, he was also always the Other.

Next weeks post will be on a more contemporary aspect on the black history- theme... 

During Christmas I read two novels each based on the life of artists with a shared experience of spending most of their lives in metal institutions. They both also aimed at becoming excellent sculptors and through popular narrative they were also considered too vital and wild for a woman of their era. Camille Claudel (1864-1943) is quite well known today for her work and not just for her relationship with Auguste Rodin. She did enjoy some success and reputation before her illness stopped her creativity. Above you can see her at work in her studio. Ester Henning (1887-1985) is known in Sweden for her paintings done during her close to 70 years in hospital. She didn't have the chance to develop fully as an artist before she was sent to hospital for the first time, but eventually her artistic creativity was seen as a way of therapy. She could even have some of her works exhibited in galleries. Below you can ses her undated painting Hospitalet. 

Michèle Desbordes' La robe bleue [The blue dress] from 2004 focuses on Claudel's later life when she is living in an mental institution not able to create anything. She is mostly described as sitting on a chair in the garden waiting for visits from her brother. Anna Jörgensdotter's Drömmen om Ester [The dream of Ester], published last year, covers most of Hennings life and her artistic developments, both before and after she was hospitalised. The interesting thing about the novels was their different point of perspective in telling their stories. While Desbordes is talking about Claudel mostly through the gaze of others, Jörgensdotter tries to give Henning a voice to make us understand her. Even if she is described by others, she is allowed to react. Of course, Claudel's and Henning's lives were different in many ways - most of all in their opportunities to make art while being more or less imprisoned - but the novels are also fictions based on two different ideas on "mad women". Claudel in La robe bleue is almost an oddity when Henning in Drömmen om Ester is being treated with more sympathy and empathy. I guess you have figured out which book I recommend you to read...

Like so many others I was chocked and saddened by the death of David Bowie. How can he be gone? He's been around like forever... I even blame him, or I should say thank him, for making me an art historian. Among my first childhood memories is when my older brother got Aladdin Sane as a birthday present - and I was totally mesmerised by the album cover. That pale and yet colourful character that leaked plastic! 

More album covers of Bowie's were equally visually intriguing; Diamond Dogs, Pin Ups and there was one with cartoons on it... I sat and watched them carefully over and over again, but was not allowed to listen to them. And my teenaged brother didn't think it was cool to hang around with his baby sister so I hardly ever heard them. The only song I loved by Bowie as a kid was "Laughing gnome", and even if it still warms my heart it isn't really worth remembering. It was only later, when Scary Monsters was released, I got to know more of his music.

So, thank you David Bowie for my first strong visual experiences - and the music! And my brother should of course have some credit for introducing me to Bowie.

Last week to the first snow covered the latest public art work at Umeå university most beautifully. This post will focus on Mandana Moghaddan's Vinden bär oss med sig [The wind carry us with it] inaugurated in early November. 

Is it a sculpture or an installation? Well, it is a furnished room without walls, all made of concrete. It reminds of a student's dorm, but it could be just any room with a desk, a chair and an unmade bed. A hotel room, a single room flat, or a refugee accommodation. Occasionally one can hear recorded phone calls. People speaking in different languages of everyday matters or sending their love to family and friends. 

Mandana Moghaddam (http://mandana-moghaddam.com) have made many sculptural installations, the most famous is a well where people in two different places can talk with each other. For Umeå she was also thinking of communication - more specifically - our need to be in touch with our home. It might be that you left for studies and long for some kind words when you are not getting the results you hoped for, or want to celebrate great grades or receiving grants. Or, like too many people right now,  you are forced to leave home for violent, threatening, catastrophic reasons. Moghaddam did this journey herself, and says she has lived in, and left, many rooms like this one. No matter where she was (or still is) the telephone was the life line to the people dear to her. So necessary when wanting to be a part of their lives and make sure everybody are ok.

Another important aspect of this art work is accessibility. We are supposed to enter this room, listen to the voices speaking, and to sit down by the desk where the light is always shining. Today this creature was placed in the room. Hopefully a sign of how quickly people at campus have accepted and started to examine its potential.

Back from my long summer vacation during which I saw some great exhibitions, but lets start where I finished in June: Havremagasinet in Boden.

Their main event was Entry prohibited to foreigners - a title that caused some discussions among visitors as it was read as a political statement regarding the migrant situation in Europe. To some extent the exhibitions was about the current alarming developments on who is allowed to enter Europe and other more prosperous areas of the world, but it also explored other areas of colonialism and (ethnic) injustice.

The exhibition that I will highlight here, however, was the room dedicated to Eva Zettervall. I have been a fan for more than 20 years, so I guess it was inevitable that her work would get a firm grip on me. The above painting, Tatuerade kvinnor av träd och blod där gryningsljuset tränger sig fram [Tattoed women of trees and blood where the morning light breaks through], is just one example of Zettervall's huge paintings. The vibrant and flooding red colour is vital for almost all of the paintings, as is the female characters standing, fighting, protesting, caressing or taking refuge from violence.  She calls the exhibition Röda rummet [The Red room] and it has a sibling in another summer exhibition of hers, Julie och Jean [Julie and Jean], in Strömstad. Both are connected to the author August Strindberg (1949-1912), but Zetttervall uses his critique of the bourgeoisie society of the late 19th century in her own way. Her inspiration to political change comes from the flux of feminist movements active today, Röda rummet is dedicated to the activities of the Pussy Riot in Russia and Femen in Ukraine. Their activism is made present in images of protest as well as the ones of the everyday private life. See more of her own words from Havremagasinets homepage:http://english.havremagasinet.se/

Eva Zettervall is not the only feminist artist that has been inspired by the writings of Strindberg, even though he is usually blamed for being misogynist. Also Siri Derkert (1888-1973), who gave him credit for liberating women from the bourgeoise cage, used his works for inspiration. She also made a few portraits of him, one is part of her public work Kvinnopelaren [The female pillar], 1958, at one of the platforms of the Central Station of the Stockholm Underground. The image below is borrowed from Instagram - and you can see part of Derkert's art work in this short film on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwXNTKlGB1w

It is quite clear that misogynist are not safe from feminists!

Summer is here and soon my summer vacation will kick in. Besides fighting off mosquitos, reading a lot of novels and watching my sweetheart barbecuing our dinner I will visit some art exhibitions, and I really look forward to whats on at Havremagasinet in Boden (Norrbotten county). Havremagasinet is one of my must do:s of the summer because they always have fantastic exhibitions of international, national and local artists. Find out more here: http://english.havremagasinet.se

Have a great summer (if you are on the northern hemisphere)!

During the weekend a new exhibition opened at Kvinnohistoriskt Museum in Umeå - or more precisely - an art installation. It is called About: Blank Pages, made by EvaMarie Lindahl and Ditte Ejlerskov, and it all began when they realised that women artist were almost totally absent from the well known Taschen's Basic Art Series. Currently the series covers 92 men and 5 women, missing out world famous artists such as Cindy Sherman, Yoko Ono, Jenny Holtzer, and Louise Bourgeois. They contacted Taschen and adressed the problem and gave them a list of 100 names for future issues, but from what I understand they are still waiting for an answer. You can find more information here: http://www.kvinnohistoriskt.se/4.1ba1eb9814afeb38cc9c733.html

So why is this important in 2015 when everybody knows there are famous women artists in Western art history? Because we always tend to find it necessary to rediscover women artists. Why? Because they never make it into the general surveys, the history books or the great exhibitions — oh, sometimes they do, I know, especially when presented in solo exhibitions that illustrates a lifetime achievement (like the Louise Bourgeois-exhibiton I mentioned in an earlier post). But still these events do not seem enough to make women artists part of the canon of art history. When National Gallery in London had a big exhibition on the Impressionists earlier this spring, they kind of forgot to include the women — oops! — and this was brilliantly commented by art historian Griselda Pollock. You can find her article here: https://theconversation.com/the-national-gallery-is-erasing-women-from-the-history-of-art-42505

Another example of continuing rediscovering and rewriting is Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-c.1656) who's Allegory of Painting (1638-39) you can see below. One of the first publications presenting her for a wider audience is art historian Anna Banti's novel Artemisia (1947). Then, more that 30 years later, art historian Mary D. Garrard started publishing studies presenting the artist in late 1980s before the biography Artemisia Gentileschi, with a catalogue of all her known works, was published in 1991. A touring exhibition including works of her father Orazio Gentileschi made ground for new publications discovering Gentileschi during 2001-2004 (often comparing her with her father), and this was also when Susan Vreeland wrote her novel, The Passion of Artemisia (however, I suggest you read Banti). And so it continues with new discoveries and new editions of former publications. I do think Gentileschi is quite well known today even if  there is a tendency to invent her story again and again. She is still often excluded in books and exhibitions on Italian Baroque art — and, of course, Taschen have not included her in their Basic Art Series.

"Digital Navigations, Storytelling and Accessible Art History" was the titel of the paper I presented at Nordik 2015 in Reykjavik two weeks ago. To cut it short I talked on "Why do my students not Google enough?". Generally students seems to have low digital literacy. They do look for texts (Wikipedia, exhibition presentations etc.) as a way to find "real" answers to my questions (and perhaps in hope of not having to read textbooks), but they don't seem to search for reproductions of art works or interact with digitised art collections. I foolishly thought they were more skilled than me, but it can be quite challenging to find things if you don't know how to navigate in different digitised environments. One problem is that museums tend to have their own logic archiving collections and this often organises how the collections gets digitised. So now I am planning new assignments that will help future students explore the Internet for art treasures.

This is the abstract:

Digital navigations, storytelling and accessible art history

Digital art collections have improved dramatically in the past decades. Attempts are made to extend existing collections and interaction with on-line visitors is encouraged by making galleries, tagging images with information outside established art terminology that enables new ways of searching etc. There are also other forums for discussing and exposing art: digital archives like Google Art Project, and archives for digitally born artworks like deviantArt. These digital places attract “nerds”, who both interact and engage themselves in the communities. Unfortunately students often are not part of these interactions. In order to make art students use digital art archives better, more research is to be done on the various tools of interaction and the meaning-makings of art blogs, twitter accounts and Facebook-groups etc. This could make the discipline of art history more relevant to social developments by developing new critical methods and educate new kinds of curators and art critics.

Last week I was at Nordik 2015, an art historical conference arranged every third year. This time we had the great fortune of visiting Reykjavik and Iceland. The conference ended with an excursion to "art and nature", and the photos included in this post is from this four hour long trip. More specifically it is from our first stop at Kópavogur Art Museum dedicated to the sculptor and stained glass artist Gerdur Helgadóttir (1928-1975). 

Though the window you can see the church with on of her more famous stained glass windows. Sadly, it was closed on our visit but we could see some of her drawings of it in the exhibition, Birting (Illumination), also including eight contemporary artists inspired of Helgadòttirs work. You can find more on the museum and the exhibition here: http://english.gerdarsafn.is

I will give you more information on the content of the conference, as well as my paper presentation, in coming posts - promise!

While preparing a paper for a Nordic art history conference next week I found myself thinking of photo slides... The sounds of both of the fan of the slide projector and the mechanism of changing slides. The warm, dusty smell and the semi-darkness of the classroom. A sense of nostalgia for sure, but do I really miss them?

Doing digitised presentations do have so many advantages. No colleague can "borrow" your lecture's most important photo, you can have a full archive of all your presentations and still do alterations, and it is a lot easier to travel with a USB-stick than with a tray of 15-50 slides that might accidentally fall upside down, spread across the room, 2 minutes before your important conference presentation. No more reddish versions of medieval wall paintings, violet façades of renaissance cathedrals, or coloured paintings in black and white. More importantly, you can also include other media and use different tools while teaching.

Still... I am thinking of those photo slides, the sound, smell and semi-darkness, and how they were  such an important part of making me an art historian.

May is approaching fast and spring is definitely here - even if it is chilly at night and small heaps of snow remains in the shadows here in Umeå. I want to celebrate spring with the help of artist Elsa Beskow (1874-1953), a famous illustrator but also an author of children's books. She always did accurate depictions of the scenery in her images, as she wanted children to learn more about wild life and respect nature. Here are two illustrations from different stories, but they both depict the lovely blue Hepatica Nobilis (or in Swedish, Blåsippa).

No, I have not been to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, but to Moderna Museet in Stockholm where they have a retrospective exhibition with the work of Louise Bourgeois. Outside the museum is a copy of her famous Maman: the gigantic spider that rises lika a gothic cathedral offering shelter - if you're not a victim of serious arachnophobia. The exhibition poetically called "I have been to hell and back" - missing Bourgeois end line: " And let me tell you, it was wonderful" - is a must if you are visiting/living in Stockholm. It ends May 17. A large portion of the works have never been exhibited before.

What struck me with Bourgeois' art was that it seems so full of hope. Even in the most traumatic themes there is a sense of tenderness, mending and humour. A lust for creativity, curiosity, and learning from various experiences. I left it with a lot more knowledge of the artist, but also much more calm, sane and happy.

Moderna Museet have published an eighteen minute video on YouTube on both Bourgeois and the exhibition (with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=21&v=JFFWJyuda3g

Today is World Art Day according to The International Association of Art because April 15 is also Leonardo da Vinci's birthday (more info on IAA can be found here: http://www.iaa-europe.eu). So how can one celebrate World Art Day? Besides having lots of cake, you should of course look at art! 

Here's a little guide:

Go to a museum, a gallery, an exhibition and look for art, or go to any public art work that catches your eye. It can be old, it can be the latest scream, it can be by the most famous artist ever or an amateur piece by your aunt. The good thing about art is that the more you see, the more you learn. And not just about art, you also learn an awful lot about yourself - so do not worry too much about quality.

While looking at a sculpture, a painting, a performance or a video - basically at the art work of your choice - you can ask yourself one or many of the following questions:

1) What am I looking at? How could I describe it to someone else?

2) What is this piece of art telling me? Does it evoke emotions or memories? Is it illustrating something? Does it make me curious or furious, and if so why?

3) How is it made? What technique or method is used? 

4) How does the colours, movements, actions, symbols, or its size and placement influence me? How am I supposed to look at it - am I seeing it from above, from below, close up or from a distance? How is the art work framed?

5) What might be the context? Is is referring to political issues, historical events, or other current subjects or questions? Is there  written information close to the art work - what does it say and does it influence my understanding of the art work? Does the place/space/room where it is affect my reading?

6) Who is the artist? What is his/her background and what else have the artist done besides this piece? 

If you do this at your first, second, third visit you will probably notice how you can reach a deeper understanding of art. And please use art historians, guides at museums and galleries (like my friend Ivar showing Heart of Trees by Jaume Plensa in Umedalens Skulpturpark in the above photo), the internet, or take courses in art history to learn even more.

Happy World Art Day! 

Easter is approaching and it is time to dwell on various renditions of the hymn Stabat Mater. The theme of the Virgin in mourning became popular in the 13th century, a time of raging wars and plagues that devastated many peoples lives. However, no matter how difficult your own life was, it was nothing compared to the sacrifices of the Virgin Mary and her Son. And if you believe in the Christian message you should also be grateful - because of their great offering, humanity will be saved  on Judgement Day.

The above Pietà by the anonymous workshop of Passionsmästaren is from Gerum parish church on Gotland. The sad Virgin holds her dead son's body in a loving caress. She sits on his sarcophagus and the two other Marys (also described in the Bible) supports her in mourning. It is an image that is quiet and calm in composition, while intense and emotional in content. 

This year my favorite Stabat Mater are by Pergolesi and Karl Jenkins. Which ones are yours?

Sometimes I google images for inspiration to various topics in my teaching. Visual material is my prime analytic tool when defining research questions, so it is also a way for me to see if there are any new angles in a topic that can challenge my perception and preconceptions. This time the  results was quite unexpected and made me wonder if I'm living in a parallell universe...

Earlier this week I had a seminar on Taste and Aesthetics in a course on design history. So I quite simply googled the word "aesthetics" (though in Swedish: "estetik"). I'm not sure what I was expecting. Perhaps som portraits of Immanuel Kant, some images that might have been used to define beauty... What I got was 10 pages of images illustrating plastic surgery. Both of beautiful young women in commercials or in more instructive images used as information of various treatments (I guess thats the chosen terminology), and of celebrities known for their perhaps not so successful facelifts, use of botox and implants. The above image is one of the top results and comes from an advertisement of a Swiss clinic.

OK. I was not trying to get all moralistic about it, even if I felt a slight sense of panic. Plastic surgery is getting more widespread in Sweden, but still it is not common. I went to my male colleague next door and asked him to do the same google search, since the result might be influenced by gender. But no; the same images in a slightly different order.

I'm confused. What does it mean when the philosophical concept of aesthetics in popular use now seems so strongly identified with plastic surgery? Have beauty nowadays turned into a question of (female) good looks and charm?

An "update": When discussing this issue with a colleague who is doing an inventory of popular trends and future buzzwords, I may have found another key for understanding why aesthetics is so connected with plastic surgery. According to some predictions Western culture is turning into a "transformation culture", where we transform various aspects of our lives. House make-overs, changes in life styles with exercise and diet are obvious examples, so why not also the growing industry of plastic surgery?